urge parliamentary scrutiny of the state within a state of the Khakis, especially the dreaded spy agency (DGFI). The interference of the Khakis into state politics will once again jeopardize institutionalization of elective democracy, good governance and secularism. The rogues fear social justice activists, critics, politicians and journalists too - Joy Manush!

Friday, July 12, 2013

Historic judgment for Gautam Das murder in Bangladesh

Almost
eight years have passed since the murder of Bangladeshi journalistGautam Das, but the slow wheels of justice have finally
rotated. Late last month, a court sentenced nine individuals to life in prison
in connection with the scribe's murder. Many local journalists have hailed the
verdict as a landmark, the first time a Bangladeshi court has successfully
prosecuted a murder of a journalist.Eight of
the nine convicted on June 27 are junior politicians belonging to the
opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, including the son of a former
parliamentarian, according to newsreports."This
marks the first time in Bangladesh's
42-year history that the police thoroughly investigated the murder of a
journalist, arrested the perpetrators, and that a court delivered a favorable
verdict," said Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul, a prominent journalist and former
head of the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists.Shortly
before his murder in November 2005, Das published a series of reports for the
Dhaka-based dailySamakal,
detailing corruption by BNP officials, according to news reports. His body wasfound strangledin his bureau in the town of Faridpur, 40 miles
outside the capital. The following day, Das' colleague filed a complaint with
local police, accusing 10 individuals in connection with the murder, many of
whom were members of the then-ruling BNP, according to reports. But the
long road to justice was pitted with potholes. One of the accused died during
the course of the trial. Others were released on bail. Witnesses scared of
testifying backed out, according to Saleem Samad, a local journalist who knew
Das. And in 2006, the case was transferred from the local district court to the
Dhaka Speedy Tribunal Court 1 for an expedited judgment afterpressurefrom local journalists. One defendantchallengedthe legality of this transfer,
resulting in further delays.Seven
years later, this "speedy" court delivered its decision. While many
journalists and press freedom advocates have welcomed the verdict, Das' widow,
Dipali Das, expressed her disappointment and concerns to local media that the
convicts would try to use their finances to get out of jail. Her concerns are
legitimate; Bangladesh
is consistently rated one of the mostcorruptnations in the world. Dipali Das said
the killers deserved the death penalty.It is
widely accepted by those who knew Das that those sentenced are the individuals
behind the murder. It remains unclear if these men are the masterminds based on
the police investigation, eyewitness accounts and confessions of the convicts,
according to local journalists. Bulbul warned that the judgment will likely be
appealed, and in a politicized place like Bangladesh, there is always the
possibility that the defendants walk free.Impunity
for journalists' murders runs deep in Bangladesh. At least 14 journalists
have been killed in direct relation to their work since CPJ began keepingrecordsin 1992.
Six others have been killed for reasons that remain unclear. Bangladesh
ranks as the world's 19th deadliest country for the press, according to CPJdata. "For last 40
years hardly any journalists silenced for their profession had received
justice, despite media pressure. In some incidents the family members have
rejected the court verdict, some have even withdrawn their case out of
frustration," said Samad.

Bulbul
is hopeful this may change. "This is the beginning of the end of the
culture of impunity that exists for journalist murders in Bangladesh,"
he said.

Sumit
Galhotra is the research associate for CPJ's Asia
program. He served as CPJ's inaugural Steiger Fellow and has worked for CNN
International, Amnesty International USA, and Human Rights Watch. He has
reported from London, India,
and Israel and the OccupiedTerritories,
and specializes in human rights and South Asia